The first group of Hawaii-bound missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, sailed from Boston Harbor in the Fall of 1819 and arrived at Kawaihae, Hawaii, a little over five months later. Below, in an excerpt from A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands, Bingham, describes the missionaries' first encounter with native Hawaiians.


A considerable number of the natives came off to our vessel, from the shores of Kohala, to dispose of their little articles of barter, and to look at the strangers. Their manoeuvres in their canoes, some being propelled by short paddles, and some by small sails, attracted the attention of our little group, and for a moment, gratified curiosity; but the appearance of destitution, degradation, and barbarism, among the chattering and almost naked savages, whose heads and feet, and much of their sunburnt swarthy skins, were bare, was appalling. Some of our number, with gushing tears, turned away from the spectacle. Others with firmer nerve continued their gaze, but ready to exclaim, "Can these be human beings! How dark and comfortless their state of mind and heart! How imminent the danger to the immortal soul, shrouded in this deep pagan gloom! Can such beings be civilized? Can they be Christianized? Can we throw ourselves upon these rude shores, and take up our abode, for life, among such a people, for the purpose of training them for heaven?" 

Though faith had to struggle for the victory, these interrogatories could all be answered decidedly in the affirmative. At sunset they returned to their dark cabins.

This excerpt, from Mission at the Sandwich Islands, describes a visit Bingham made to Kauai in July 1821, to visit King Kaumualii and other local royalty


Soon after noon, Kaneo, with her attendants, landed just in front of the mission house, where the king and queen, with their attendants, met her, embraced, and joined noses, with loud crying, many tears, and other expressions of emotion. After some minutes, all sat down together on the sand for a considerable time, till the first bursts of feeling had subsided, when the king conducted his guests to the house, which he had prepared for their reception, by removing a quantity of imported goods lately purchased, and spreading his best mats, both in the house, and the court in front. Having ordered the slaughter of hogs, dogs, &c. for the purpose, he prepared a full repast for the company. At evening, he resigned his own dwelling house to his guests, and retiring to another, sent out a crier to prohibit the common people from entering the enclosure, where Kaneo, and her ladies and servants were lodged, and set a guard also at the gate.


The king’s company, that is, his wife Tapoolee and particular friends, Kaneo and her attendants, spent much of the day in decorating themselves with a kind of temporary ornaments, which they call “Laualla beads;” and in a favorite amusement of playing in the surf, of which a pretty good description is given in Turnbull’s "Voyages.” All engage in it [riding the surf], without distinction of rank, age, or sex; and the whole nation is distinguished by their fondness for the water, and the dexterity and facility with which they manage themselves in that element.

The surf-board, or the instrument used in playing in the surf, is of various dimensions, from three feet in length, and eight inches in breadth, to fourteen feet in length and twenty inches in breadth. It is made of light wood, thin at the edges and ends, but of considerable thickness in the middle, wrought exceedingly smooth, and ingeniously adapted to the purpose of gliding rapidly in the water.

The islander, placing himself horizontally on the board, and using his arms as oars, paddles out into the sea, meeting the successive surges as they roll along towards the shore. If they are high, he dives under them, if they are low, or smooth, glides over them with ease, till he is ready to return, or till he gains the smooth sea beyond where the surf breaks. Then choosing one of the highest surges, adjusting his board as [the wave] approaches him, directing his head towards the shore, he rides on the forefront of the surge, with great velocity, as his board darts along swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, while the whitening surf foams and roars around his head, till it dies on the beach, and leaves him to return or retire at pleasure.

Often, several of them run at the same time, as in a race, and not infrequently on a wager. The board moves as down an inclined plane, and the art lies principally in keeping it in proper position, giving it occasionally an accelerating stroke with the hands, so that it shall not lose the propelling force of the wave, and thus fall behind it; or retarding it with the foot, when liable to shoot forward too fast. Sometimes the irregularity or violence of the water tears their board from under them, and dashes it on the rocks; or threatening to carry them into danger, obliges them to abandon it, and save themselves by diving and swimming.

I informed the king, as he sat on the beach witnessing the sport, of the design of building a church, or a house for the public worship of the true God, at Woahoo [O‘ahu]. He expressed his approbation.

Bingham offers a different version of the same event in his 1847 memoir A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the Sandwich Islands

The royal parties . . . resorted to the favorite amusement of all classes—sporting on the surf, in which they distinguish themselves from most other nations. In this exercise, they generally avail themselves of the surf-board, an instrument manufactured by themselves for the purpose. It is made of buoyant wood, thin at the edges and ends, but of considerable thickness in the middle, smooth, and ingeniously adapted to the purpose of sustaining a moderate weight and gliding rapidly on the surface of the water. It is of various dimensions, from three feet in length, and six or eight inches in breadth, to fourteen feet in length, and twenty inches in breadth. In the use of it, the islander, placing himself longitudinally upon the board as it rests upon the surface of the water, and using his naked arms and hands as a pair of oars, rows off from the sand-beach a quarter or half a mile into the ocean. Meeting the succession of surges as they are rolling towards the shore, he glides with ease over such as are smooth, plunges under or through such as are high and combing, allowing them to roll over him and his board, and coming out unhurt on the other side, he presses on till his distance is sufficient for a race, or till he has passed beyond the breaking or combing surf.

After a little rest, turning around and choosing one of the highest surges for his locomotive, he adjusts himself and board, continuing longitudinally upon it, directing his head towards the shore, and just before the highest part of the wave reaches him, he gives two or three propelling strokes with his spread hands. The board, having its hindmost end now considerably elevated, glides down the moving declivity, and darts forward like a weaver’s shuttle. He rides with railroad speed on the forefront of the surge, the whitening surf foaming and roaring just behind his head, and is borne in triumph to the beach. Often in this rough riding, which is sometimes attended with danger, several run the race together. Formerly, this was usually done on a wager.

The inhabitants of these islands, both male and female, are distinguished by their fondness for the water, their powers of diving and swimming, and the dexterity and ease with which they manage themselves, their surf-boards and canoes, in that element. Their divers can stay underwater five or six minutes.

The adoption of our costume [Western clothing] greatly diminishes their practice of swimming and sporting in the surf, for it is less convenient to wear it in the water than the native girdle, and less decorous and safe to lay it entirely off on every occasion they find for a plunge or swim or surf-board race. Less time, moreover, is found for amusement by those who earn or make cloth-garments for themselves like the more civilized nations.

The decline or discontinuance of the use of the surf-board, as civilization advances, may be accounted for by the increase of modesty, industry or religion, without supposing, as some have affected to believe, that missionaries caused oppressive enactments against it. These considerations are in part applicable to many other amusements. Indeed, the purchase of foreign vessels, at this time, required attention to the collecting and delivering of 450, 000 lbs. of sandal-wood, which those who were waiting for it might naturally suppose would, for a time, supersede their amusements.

MISSIONARY IN PARADISE: EXCERPTS FROM HIRAM BINGHAM'S PUBLISHED WORKS

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